Set 19
persuade
verb
1 he tried to persuade her to come with him: prevail on, talk someone into, coax, convince, make, get, press some one into, induce, win someone over, bring someone round, argue someone into, pressure someone into, pressurise someone into, coerce, influence, sway, prompt, inveigle,entice, tempt, lure, cajole, wheedle someone into, get round, blarney, prod someone into, reason someone into;
Law procure; informal sweet-talk, smooth-talk, soft-soap,twist someone's arm. ANTONYMS dissuade, discourage, deter.
2 shortage of money persuaded them to abandon the scheme:cause, lead, move, dispose, incline, motivate, induce.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
persuade, convince, induce
See convince.
plummet |ˈplʌmɪt|
verb (plummets, plummeting, plummeted) [ no obj. ]fall or drop straight down at high speed: a climber was killed when he plummeted 300 feet down an icy gully.
• decrease rapidly in value or amount: hardware sales plummeted.
noun
1 a steep and rapid fall or drop. the bird has a circular display flight followed by an earthward plummet.
2 a plumb or plumb line.
ORIGIN late Middle English (as a noun): from Old French plommet ‘small sounding lead’, diminutive of plomb ‘lead’. The current verb sense dates from the 1930s.
plummet
verb
1 the plane plummeted to the ground: plunge, fall headlong, hurtle, nosedive, dive, drop, crash, descend rapidly.2 share prices plummeted: fall steeply/sharply, plunge, tumble, drop/decrease rapidly, go down, sink, slump;
stable 1 |ˈsteɪb(ə)l|
adjective (stabler, stablest)
(of an object or structure) not likely to give way or overturn; firmly fixed: specially designed dinghies that are very stable.
• (of a patient or their medical condition) not deteriorating in health after an injury or operation: he is
now in a stable condition in hospital.
• sane and sensible; not easily upset or disturbed: the officer concerned is mentally and emotionally stable.
• not likely to change or fail; firmly established: a stable relationship | prices have remained relatively stable.
DERIVATIVES
stably adverb
DERIVATIVES
stableful noun (pl.stablefuls)
stable
adjective1 a very stable tent: firm, solid, steady, secure, fixed, strong, fast, stout, sturdy, safe, moored, anchored, stuck down, immovable, well built, well constructed, substantial. ANTONYMS unstable, rickety.
2 a stable person: well balanced, balanced, sound, mentally sound, of sound mind, sane, normal, right in the head, in possession of all one's faculties, able to think/reason clearly, lucid,
clear-headed,rational,coherent, steady, reasonable, sensible, sober, down-to-earth, matter-of-fact, with both one's feet on the ground;ANTONYMS unstable, unbalanced.
3 a stable relationship | prices have remained relatively stable:secure, solid, strong, steady, firm, sure, steadfast, level,unwavering,unvarying,unfaltering,unfluctuating,unswerving; established, long-lasting, long-lived, deep rooted, well founded, well grounded, abiding, durable, enduring, lasting,constant, permanent, reliable,dependable,true.
ANTONYMS unstable,rocky,changeable.
fresh |frɛʃ|
adjective
1 not previously known or used; new or different: the court had heard fresh evidence.
• recently created or experienced and not faded or impaired: the memory was still fresh in their minds.
• (of a person) attractively youthful and unspoilt. a fresh young girl.
2 (of food) recently made or obtained; not tinned, frozen, or otherwise preserved: fresh fruit.
3 [ predic. ] (of a person) full of energy and vigour: they are feeling fresh after a good night's sleep.
• (of a colour or a person's complexion) bright or healthy in appearance. a young constable with a fresh complexion.
4 (of water) not salty. all the fresh water in the world's lakes.
5 (of the wind) cool and fairly strong. a fresh northerly wind was speeding the ship southwards.
adverb [ usu. in combination ]
newly; recently: fresh-baked bread | fresh-cut grass.
DERIVATIVES
freshness noun
fresh
adjective
1 salads made with fresh, wholesome ingredients: newly harvested, garden-fresh, not stale, crisp, firm, raw,natural,unprocessed,uncured, without additives, without preservatives. ANTONYMS stale; processed.
2 she drew on a fresh sheet of paper: clean, blank, empty,bare,clear,plain,white;unused,new,pristine,
unmarked, unfilled, untouched. ANTONYMS used.
3 a fresh approach to studying: new, brand new, recent, latest, up to date, modern, modernistic, ultra-modern,newfangled; original, novel,different,innovative,unusual, uncommon, unwonted, out of the ordinary,unconventional,unorthodox,offbeat,radical,revolutionary; ANTONYMS old, well-worn.
4 the general knew fresh forces were coming: additional,further, extra, added, supplementary, supplemental,auxiliary; more, other, new.
5 a row of fresh recruits: young, youthful, juvenile,adolescent,boyish,girlish,new,newly arrived;
inexperienced, untrained, unqualified, untried, raw,callow, green, immature, artless, ingenuous, naive;
informal wet behind the ears. ANTONYMS experienced.
6 I must be fresh for work in the morning: refreshed, rested,restored, revived, like a new person; fresh as a daisy,energetic, vigorous, invigorated, full of vim and vigour,vital, lively, vibrant, spry, sprightly, bright, alert,bouncing, perky; informal full of beans, raring to go,bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,
chirpy, chipper.ANTONYMS tired.
7 she had the fresh complexion of a true Celt: healthy, healthy-looking, clear, bright,youthful,
youthful-looking, wholesome, blooming, glowing, unblemished;
fair, rosy, rosy-cheeked, pink, pinkish, reddish, ruddy,flushed, blushing. ANTONYMS unhealthy.
8 the morning was clear and fresh: cool, crisp, refreshing,invigorating, tonic; pure, clean, clear, unpolluted,uncontaminated, untainted.
9 a fresh wind had sprung up from the east: chilly, cool, cold,brisk, bracing, invigorating; bleak, wintry, snowy, frosty,icy, ice-cold, icy-cold, glacial, polar, arctic, raw, bitter,bitterly cold, biting; informal nippy; Brit. informal parky;
literary chill; rare gelid, brumal. ANTONYMS warm,sultry.
10 informal that young man has been getting a little too fresh:impudent,impertinent,insolent,
presumptuous,audacious, forward, cheeky, irreverent, discourteous,disrespectful, insubordinate, rude, crude, brazen, brazen-faced, brash, shameless, pert, defiant, bold, (as) bold as brass, outrageous, shocking, out of line; informal brass-necked, cocky, lippy, mouthy, flip;ANTONYMS polite.
favourable |ˈfeɪv(ə)rəb(ə)l| (USfavorable)
adjective
1 expressing approval: the exhibitions received favourable reviews.
• giving consent: their demands rarely received a favourable response.
2 to the advantage of someone or something: favourable conditions for vegetation growth | the settlement was favourable to the unions.• (of a wind) blowing in the direction of travel. by sailing
towards the land first you will find more favourable wind.
• suggesting a good outcome: a favourable prognosis.
DERIVATIVES
favourableness noun
ORIGIN Middle English: via Old French from Latin
favorabilis, from favor (see favour) .
favourable
adjective
1 a favourable assessment of his ability: approving,commendatory, commending, praising, complimentary,flattering, glowing, appreciative, enthusiastic; good,pleasing, agreeable, successful, positive; ANTONYMS unfavourable; critical.
2 the birds nest where conditions are favourable: advantageous, beneficial, of benefit, in one's favour, on one's side, helpful, good, right, conducive, convenient, suitable, fit, fitting, appropriate; propitious, auspicious,hopeful, promising, fair, encouraging. ANTONYMS disadvantageous.
3 he hoped for a favourable reply to his request: positive, affirmative, assenting, agreeing, concurring, approving,in the affirmative; encouraging, reassuring, supportive,in one's favour. ANTONYMS negative.
angry |ˈaŋgri|
adjective (angrier, angriest)
feeling or showing strong annoyance, displeasure, or hostility; full of anger: why are you angry with me? | I'm angry that she didn't call me.
• (of the sea or sky) stormy, turbulent, or threatening: the wild, angry sea.
DERIVATIVES
angrily adverb
angry
adjective
1 Vivienne got angry and started shouting | she shot him an angry look: irate, annoyed, cross, vexed, irritated, exasperated, indignant, aggrieved, irked,piqued, displeased, provoked, galled, resentful; furious, enraged, infuriated, in a temper, incensed, raging, incandescent,wrathful, fuming, ranting, raving, seething, frenzied, in a frenzy, beside oneself, outraged, hostile, antagonistic, black, dark, dirty, filthy;ANTONYMS calm; pleased.
2 an angry debate erupted: heated, hot, passionate, furious, fiery, stormy, tempestuous, lively; bad-tempered, ill-tempered,acrimonious,bitter. ANTONYMS good-humoured, peaceful.
volatile |ˈvɒlətʌɪl|
adjective
1 (of a substance) easily evaporated at normal temperatures. volatile solvents such as petroleum ether,
hexane, and benzene.
2 liable to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially
for the worse: the political situation was becoming more
volatile.
• (of a person) liable to display rapid changes of emotion. a passionate, volatile young man.
3 (of a computer's memory) retaining data only as long as there is a power supply connected.
noun (usu. volatiles)
a volatile substance.
DERIVATIVES
volatility |-ˈtɪlɪti| noun
ORIGIN Middle English (in the sense ‘creature that flies’,also, as a collective, ‘birds’): from Old French volatil or Latin volatilis, from volare ‘to fly’.
volatile
adjective
1 her sister was headstrong and volatile: unpredictable,changeable, variable, inconstant, inconsistent, uncertain,erratic,irregular,unstable,turbulent,unsteady,unsettled, unreliable, undependable, changing, ever changing, varying, shifting, fluctuating, fluid, mutable, protean, fitful, wavering, full of ups and downs;
mercurial, capricious, whimsical, fickle, flighty, giddy,impulsive, wayward, temperamental, highly strung,excitable,choleric,emotional,stormy,overemotional,tempestuous,fiery,volcanic;
moody,informal blowing hot and cold; technical labile;ANTONYMS stable, constant.
2 the atmosphere in the capital seems far too volatile for any talk of elections:
uncomfortable,tense,strained,charged,fraught,explosive,uneasy,eruptive,inflammatory, turbulent, in turmoil, full of upheavals;ANTONYMS stable, calm.
3 a plume of pollution caused by a volatile organic compound: evaporate, vaporous, explosive, eruptive,inflammable; unstable;
foul |faʊl|
adjective1 offensive to the senses, especially through having a disgusting smell or taste or being dirty: a foul odour | his foul breath.
2 wicked or immoral: murder most foul.
verb [ with obj. ]
1 make foul or dirty; pollute: factories which fouled the atmosphere.
• (of an animal) make (something) dirty with excrement: make sure that your pet never fouls paths.
• (foul oneself) (of a person) defecate involuntarily.
2 (in sport) commit a foul against (an opponent). United claim their keeper was fouled.3 (of a ship) collide with or interfere with the passage of (another). the ships became overcrowded and fouled each
other.
• cause (a cable, anchor, or other object) to become entangled or jammed: watch out for driftwood which might foul up the engine.
DERIVATIVES
foully adverb,
foulness noun
ORIGIN Old English fūl, of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse fúll ‘foul’, Dutch vuil ‘dirty’, and Germanfaul ‘rotten, lazy’, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin pus,Greek puos ‘pus’, and Latin putere ‘to stink’.
spiritless |ˈspɪrɪtlɪs|
adjective
lacking courage, vigour, or vivacity: Ruth and I played a spiritless game of Scrabble.
DERIVATIVES
spiritlessly adverb,
spiritlessness noun
spiritless
adjective
Lilian was a pallid, spiritless woman | a spiritless performance: apathetic, passive, unenthusiastic, lifeless,listless, lacking in vitality, weak, feeble, spineless,droopy, limp, languid, bloodless, insipid, characterless,submissive, meek, irresolute, indecisive; lacklustre, flat,colourless, passionless, uninspiring, uninspired, wooden,dry, desiccated, anaemic, vapid, dull,boring; ANTONYMS spirited, lively.
heartless |ˈhɑːtlɪs|
adjective
displaying a complete lack of feeling or consideration:heartless thieves stole the pushchair of a two-year-old boy.
DERIVATIVES
heartlessly adverb,
heartlessness noun
heartless
adjective
heartless thieves stole the pushchair of a two-year-old boy:unfeeling, unsympathetic, unkind, uncaring, unloving,unmoved, unconcerned, insensitive, inconsiderate, cold-blooded, with
a heart of stone, lacking compassion, mean-spirited,without sentiment, hard as nails; cold, hard, harsh, stern,callous,cruel,brutal,merciless,pitiless,ruthless,inhuman. ANTONYMS compassionate.
mindless |ˈmʌɪndlɪs|
adjective
1 acting or done without justification and with no concern for the consequences: a generation of mindless vandals | mindless violence.
• (of an activity) so simple or repetitive as to be performed automatically. the monotony of housework turns it into a mindless task.
2 (mindless of) not thinking of or concerned about: mindless of the fact she was in her nightie, she rushed to the door.
DERIVATIVES
mindlessly adverb,
mindlessness nounmindless
adjective
1 some mindless idiot nearly drove into me: stupid, idiotic, brainless, imbecilic, imbecile, asinine, witless, foolish, empty-headed, vacuous, unintelligent, half-witted, dull, slow-witted,obtuse,
weak-minded,feather-brained,doltish, brain-dead, cretinous, thick,thickheaded,birdbrained,
pea-brained,dopey, dim, dim-witted, dippy, pie-faced, fat-headed,ANTONYMS intelligent.
2 mindless acts of vandalism: unthinking, thoughtless,senseless, gratuitous, careless, wanton, indiscriminate,unreasoning, uncalled for, brutish, barbarous, barbaric.ANTONYMS thoughtful, considered, premeditated.
3 a mindless, repetitive task: mechanical, automatic,routine, robotic; tedious, boring, monotonous, brainless,mind-numbing. ANTONYMS interesting.
PHRASES
mindless of she was mindless of the consequences of her actions: indifferent to, heedless of, unaware of, unmindful of, careless of, insensible to, blind to.
ebullient |ɪˈbʌljənt, -ˈbʊl-|
adjective
1 cheerful and full of energy: she sounded ebullient and happy.
DERIVATIVES
ebulliently adverb,
ebulliency noun
ORIGIN late 16th cent. (in the sense ‘boiling’): from Latin ebullient- ‘boiling up’, from the verb ebullire, from e-(variant of ex-)‘out’ + bullire ‘to boil’.
ebullient
adjective
the superb weather put him in an ebullient mood: exuberant,buoyant, cheerful, joyful, cheery, merry, sunny, breezy,jaunty, light-hearted, in high spirits, high-spirited,exhilarated, elated,
euphoric,sparkling, effervescent,jubilant,vivacious,animated,enthusiastic,irrepressible; informal bubbly, bouncy, peppy, zingy,upbeat, chipper, chirpy, smiley, sparky, full of beans; ANTONYMS depressed.
fall
verb
1 bombers screamed above and bombs began to fall: drop,drop down, plummet, descend, come down, go down,plunge, sink, dive, nosedive, tumble, pitch; cascade;ANTONYMS rise.
2 he lost his balance and fell: topple over, tumble over, keel over, fall down, fall over, go head over heels,fall headlong, go headlong, collapse, fall in a heap,take a spill, pitch forward; trip, trip over, stumble, stagger, slip, slide; ANTONYMS get up.
3 inflation is expected to fall: decrease, decline, diminish, fall off, drop off, go down, grow less, lessen, dwindle;
plummet, plunge, slump, sink; depreciate, decrease in value, lose value, decline in price, cheapen, devalue;crash.ANTONYMS rise, increase.
4 the Mogul empire fell several centuries later: decline,deteriorate, degenerate, go downhill, go to rack and ruin;die, decay, atrophy, wither, fade, fail; informal go to the dogs, go to pot, hit the skids, go down the toilet.ANTONYMS flourish.
5 a monument to those who fell in the Civil War: die, be killed, be slain, be a casualty, be a fatality, be lost, lose one's life, perish, drop dead, meet one's end, meet one's death; informal bite the dust, croak, buy it;
6 the town fell to the barbarians: surrender, yield, submit,give in, give up, give way, capitulate, succumb; be overthrown by, be taken by, be defeated by, be conquered by, be overcome by, be overwhelmed by, lose one's position to, pass into the hands of, fall victim to.ANTONYMS resist.
7 Easter falls on 23rd April: occur, take place, happen, come about, come to pass.
8 he waited for night to fall: come, arrive, appear, occur, arise, materialize.
9 my grandmother fell ill: become, come/get to be, grow,get, turn.
10 more of the domestic tasks may fall to him: be the responsibility of, be the duty of, be borne by, be one's job, be one's task; come someone's way.
equate |ɪˈkweɪt|
verb [ with obj. ] (often equate something to/with) consider (one thing) to be the same as or equivalent to another: customers equate their name with quality.
• [ no obj. ] (equate to/with) (of one thing) be the same as or equivalent to (another): that sum equates to half a million pounds today.
• cause (two or more things) to be the same in quantity or value: the level of prices will move to equate supply and demand.
DERIVATIVES
equatable adjective
equate
verb
1 his single-mindedness led him to equate criticism with treachery: regard as the same as, regard as identical to;
identify, liken to, compare; bracket, class, associate, connect, pair, link, relate, ally, think of together, set side by side.
2 the rent equates to £24 per square foot: correspond, be equivalent, amount; equal, be the same as.
3 the price moved to equate supply and demand: equalize, balance, even out/up/off, level up/off, square, tally, match; make equal, make even, make level, make equivalent, make identical, make the same, make uniform.
sore |sɔː|
adjective1 (of a part of one's body) painful or aching: she had a sore throat.
• suffering pain from a part of one's body: he was sore from the long ride.
noun
a raw or painful place on the body: all of us had sores and infections on our hands.
• a cause or source of distress or annoyance: there's no point raking over the past and opening old sores.
PHRASES
sore point an issue about which someone feels distressed
or annoyed and which it is therefore advisable to avoid
raising with them.stand (or stick) out like a sore thumb be very obviously
different from the surrounding people or things.
DERIVATIVES
soreness noun
sore
adjective
1 a sore leg: painful, in pain, hurting, hurt, aching, throbbing, smarting, stinging, burning, irritating,
irritated, agonizing, excruciating; inflamed, angry, red, reddened, sensitive, tender, delicate, chafed, . ANTONYMS healthy.
3 we are in sore need of you: dire, urgent, pressing,desperate, critical, crucial, acute, grave, serious, intense,crying, burning, compelling, drastic, extreme, life-and-death, great, very great, terrible; . ANTONYMS some, slight.
noun
a sore on his leg: inflammation, swelling, lesion; wound,scrape, abrasion, chafe, cut, laceration, graze, contusion,bruise; running sore, ulcer, ulceration, boil, abscess,carbuncle, canker.
plummet |ˈplʌmɪt|
verb (plummets, plummeting, plummeted) [ no obj. ]
fall or drop straight down at high speed: a climber was killed when he plummeted 300 feet down an icy gully.
• decrease rapidly in value or amount: hardware sales plummeted.
noun
1 a steep and rapid fall or drop. the bird has a circular display flight followed by an earthward plummet.
2 a plumb or plumb line.
plummet
verb1 the plane plummeted to the ground: plunge, fall headlong,hurtle, nosedive, dive, drop, crash, descend rapidly.
2 share prices plummeted: fall steeply/sharply, plunge,tumble, drop/decrease rapidly, go down, sink, slump;
play |pleɪ|
verb
1 [ no obj. ] engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose: the children were playing by a pool | her friends were playing with their dolls.
• [ with obj. ] engage in (a game or activity) for enjoyment: I want to play Snakes and Ladders.
• amuse oneself by engaging in imaginative pretence: the boys were playing at soldiers.
• (play at) engage in without proper seriousness or understanding: it would be wrong to assume that he is simply playing at right-wing politics.
2 [ with obj. ] take part in (a sport): I play squash and badminton.
• participate in (a sporting match or contest): the squad will have played 14 games in six weeks.
• compete against (another player or team) in a sporting
match: the team will play France on Wednesday.
3 [ no obj. ] [ usu. with negative ] be cooperative: he needs financial backing, but the building societies won't play.
set 1 |sɛt|
verb (sets, setting; past and past participleset)
1 [ with obj. and usu. with adverbial ] put, lay, or stand (something) in a specified place or position: Delaney set the mug of tea down | Catherine set a chair by the bed.
2 [ with obj. and usu. with adverbial ] put or bring into a specified state: the Home Secretary set in motion a review of the law | [ with obj. and complement ] : the hostages were set free.
3 [ with obj. ] adjust (a clock or watch), typically to show the right time. set your watch immediately to local time at your destination. figurative : to revert to an old style would be to try to set back the clock and deny the progress which had been made.
4 [ no obj. ] harden into a solid or semi-solid state: cook for a further thirty-five minutes until the filling has set.
deficit
noun
there was a large, continuing deficit in the federal budget: shortfall, deficiency, shortage, slippage;
indebtedness, debt, arrears; minus amount, negative amount, loss. ANTONYMS surplus, profit.
obligation |ɒblɪˈgeɪʃ(ə)n|
noun
an act or course of action to which a person is morally or
legally bound; a duty or commitment: [ with infinitive ] :
I have an obligation to look after her.
• [ mass noun ] the condition of being morally or legally
bound to do something: they are under no obligation to
stick to the scheme.
DERIVATIVES
obligational adjective
ORIGIN Middle English (in the sense ‘formal promise’):via Old French from Latin obligatio(n-), from the verb obligare (see oblige) .
obligation
noun
1 I have an obligation to look after her | he seemed able to fulfil his professional obligations:
duty,commitment,responsibility, moral imperative; function, task, job,chore,assignment,commission,
business,burden,charge, onus, liability, accountability, requirement, debt,engagement; dated office;
2 she took him in solely out of a sense of obligation: duty,compulsion, indebtedness, duress, necessity, pressure,constraint.
3 the company's export obligations: contract, agreement,deed, covenant, bond, treaty, deal, pact, compact,understanding, transaction.
behind |bɪˈhʌɪnd|
preposition
1 at or to the far side of (something), typically so as to be hidden by it: the recording machinery was kept behind screens | the sun came out from behind a cloud.
• underlying (something) but not apparent to the observer: the agony behind his decision to retire.
2 following or further back than (another member of a moving group): we were stuck behind a slow-moving tractor.• at the back of (someone), after they have passed through a door: she ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
3 in support of or giving guidance to (someone else):
whatever you decide to do, I'll be behind you | the power behind the throne.
• controlling or responsible for (an event or plan): the chances were that he was behind the death of the girl | the meticulous organization behind the coup.
adverb
1 at or to the far side of something: Campbell grabbed him from behind.
2 in a particular place after leaving or after others have moved on: don't leave me behind.
3 further back than other members of a moving group:Ben led the way, with Joe a short distance behind.
noun
1 informal a person's buttocks: she slid inelegantly down a few steps on her behind.
preposition
1 he slept in a hut behind their house: at the back of, at the rear of, beyond, on the other side of, on the far side of, on the further side of; ANTONYMS in front of.
2. you are way behind the rest of the class: less advanced than, slower than, weaker than, inferior to.
3 work on the car is months behind schedule: later than, late in relation to, after.
4 he was believed to have been behind a number of bombings: responsible for, at the bottom of, at the back of, the cause of, the source of, the organizer of; to blame for, culpable of, guilty of; causing, instigating, initiating, urging.
5 the All Blacks have the whole nation behind them:supporting, backing, for, on the side of, in agreement with; financing.
PHRASES
put something behind one the team have to put this morning's result behind them: consign something to the past, put something down to experience, forget about something, pay no heed to something, ignore, regard as water under the bridge.
adverb
1 each plane took off with a glider following on behind: after,afterwards, at the back, in the rear, in the wake, at the end, at six o'clock. ANTONYMS ahead, in front.
2 ‘I'm off to dance!’ he called behind: over one's shoulder, to the rear, to the back, towards the rear, towards the back, backwards. ANTONYMS ahead.
3 he stayed behind to sign autographs: afterwards, remaining after departure.
4 we're behind so don't stop: running late, late, behind schedule, behindhand, delayed, not on time, behind time. ANTONYMS ahead.
5 he was behind with his subscription payments: in arrears,overdue, in debt, ANTONYMS ahead.
noun
difficulty |ˈdɪfɪk(ə)lti|
noun (pl.difficulties) [ mass noun ]
the state or condition of being difficult: Guy had no difficulty in making friends | I managed with difficulty to struggle upright.
• [ count noun ] a thing that is hard to accomplish, deal with, or understand: there is a practical difficulty | a club with financial difficulties.
• (difficulties) a situation that is difficult or dangerous: they went for a swim but got into difficulties.
ORIGIN late Middle English (in the senses ‘requiring effort or skill’ and ‘something difficult’): from Latin
difficultas, from dis- (expressing reversal) + facultas‘ability, opportunity’.
difficulty
noun
1 her note had been penned with obvious difficulty: strain,struggling,awkwardness,laboriousness,
trouble,strenuousness,toil,labour,arduousness;pains,problems, trials and tribulations; informal hassle, stress;ANTONYMS ease.
2 the questions are arranged in order of difficulty: complexity,awkwardness;intricacy,perplexity,
trickiness,hardness;obscurity, abstruseness. ANTONYMS simplicity.
3 the cost of the journey was not an insurmountable difficulty:problem, complication, issue, disadvantage, snag, hitch,drawback, pitfall, handicap, impediment, hindrance,obstacle, hurdle, stumbling block, obstruction, barrier;
4 they felt unable to ask for help when they were in difficulty:trouble, distress, crisis, hardship; adversity, extremity,need; hard times, dire straits; predicament, quandary,dilemma, plight; informal hot water, deep water, a fix, a jam, a spot, a scrape, a stew, a hole, a pickle.
siren |ˈsʌɪr(ə)n|
noun
1 a device that makes a loud prolonged signal or
warning sound: ambulance sirens.
2 Greek Mythology each of a number of women or
winged creatures whose singing lured unwary sailors on
to rocks.
siren
noun
1 the wail of an air-raid siren: alarm, alarm bell, warning bell, danger signal; whistle, horn; Brit. hooter;
capitalism |ˈkapɪt(ə)lɪz(ə)m|
noun [ mass noun ]
an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
noun
private enterprise, free enterprise, private ownership,privatised industries, the free market, individualism;ANTONYMS communism.
destruct |dɪˈstrʌkt|
verb [ with obj. ]cause deliberate, terminal damage to. the boys' war to destruct things.
noun [ in sing. ] [ usu. as modifier ]
the deliberate causing of terminal damage: press the destruct button.
DERIVATIVES
destructor noun
ORIGIN 1950s (originally US): back-formation from
destruction.
arson |ˈɑːs(ə)n|
noun [ mass noun ]
the criminal act of deliberately setting fire to property:police are treating the fire as arson | [ as modifier ] : an arson attack.
ORIGIN late 17th cent.: an Anglo-Norman French legal
term, from medieval Latin arsio(n-), from Latin ardere
‘to burn’.arsonist |ˈɑːs(ə)nɪst, ˈɑːsənɪst|
noun
a person who commits arson: police believe arsonists were
responsible for both fires.
archery |ˈɑːtʃəri|
noun [ mass noun ]
shooting with a bow and arrows, especially at a target as a sport.
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French archerie,from archier (see archer) .
shoot |ʃuːt|
verb (past and past participleshot |ʃɒt| )
1 [ with obj. ] kill or wound (a person or animal) with a bullet or arrow: he was shot in the leg during an armed robbery | [ with obj. and complement ] : troops shot dead 29 people.• [ no obj. ] fire a bullet from a gun or discharge an arrow from a bow: he shot at me twice | the troops were ordered to
shoot to kill | [ with obj. ] : they shot a volley of arrows into the village.
• [ no obj., with adverbial ] use a firearm with a specified degree of skill: we shot well against Spain.
2 move or cause to move suddenly and rapidly in a particular direction: [ no obj., with adverbial of
direction ] : the car shot forward | Ward's hand shot out, grabbing his arm | [ with obj. and adverbial of direction ] :
he would have fallen if Marc hadn't shot out a hand to stop him.
irresistible
adjective
1 her irresistible smile: tempting, enticing, alluring,inviting,seductive;
attractive,desirable,etching,glamorous, appealing; captivating, ravishing, beguiling,
enchanting, fascinating, tantalizing;
2 it was an irresistible impulse—I couldn't stop myself:uncontrollable,compelling,overwhelming,
compulsive,overpowering,besetting,irrepressible,ungovernable; unavoidable, inescapable, unpreventable,inexorable,driving,forceful,potent,oppressive,imperative, urgent; obsessive.
WORD TOOLKIT
irresistible
See enchanting.
susceptibility |səˌsɛptɪˈbɪlɪti|noun (pl.susceptibilities)
1 [ mass noun ] the state or fact of being likely or liable to be influenced or harmed by a particular thing: lack of exercise increases susceptibility to disease.
2(susceptibilities)a person's feelings,typically considered as being easily hurt: I was so careful not to
offend their susceptibilities.
3 Physics the ratio of magnetization produced in a material to the magnetizing force.
susceptibility
noun
1 his susceptibility to flattery: vulnerability, sensitivity,openness,defencelessness,receptiveness,
responsiveness. ANTONYMS immunity, resistance.ANTONYMS immunity, resistance.
predisposition,likelihood.
liability |lʌɪəˈbɪlɪti|
noun (pl.liabilities)
1 [ mass noun ] the state of being legally responsible for something: once you contact the card protection scheme your liability for any loss ends.
• [ count noun ] (usu. liabilities) a thing for which someone is responsible, especially an amount of money owed: valuing the company's liabilities and assets.
2 [ usu. in sing. ] a person or thing whose presence or behaviour is likely to put one at a disadvantage: she said the party had become a liability to green politics.
liability
noun
1 journalists cannot avoid liability for defamation merely by avoiding the responsibility, naming legal
of names: accountability, responsibility ;incrimination, blame, blameworthiness, culpability, guilt,
onus, fault; ANTONYMS immunity.
2 they have some huge assets and some equally big liabilities:financial obligation, debt, indebtedness,
debit;
(liabilities) debts, arrears, dues. ANTONYMS asset.
3 she had come to be seen as an electoral liability: hindrance,encumbrance,burden,handicap,nuisance,
inconvenience; obstacle, impediment, drawback, drag,disadvantage, weakness, shortcoming, problem, weak spot/point; millstone round one's neck, stumbling block,
ANTONYMS asset, advantage.
4 their liability to the disease: susceptibility, vulnerability,proneness, tendency, predisposition, propensity; risk,chance, likelihood, threat. ANTONYMS immunity.
accountability |əˌkaʊntəˈbɪlɪti|
noun [ mass noun ]the fact or condition of being accountable; responsibility:lack of accountability has corroded public respect for business and political leaders.
accountability
noun
1 there must be clear accountability for the expenditure of public money:responsibility,liability,
2 ministers' accountability to parliament: answerability,responsibility, reporting, obedience.
responsibility |rɪˌspɒnsɪˈbɪlɪti|
noun (pl.responsibilities) [ mass noun ]
1 the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone: women
bear children and take responsibility for childcare.
2 the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something: the group has claimed responsibility for a string of murders.• [ in sing. ] (responsibility to/towards) a moral
obligation to behave correctly towards or in respect of:individuals have a responsibility to control their behaviour.
3 the opportunity or ability to act independently and take decisions without authorization:
we expect individuals to take on more responsibility.
• [ count noun ] (often responsibilities) a thing which one is required to do as part of a job, role, or legal obligation: he will take over the responsibilities of Overseas Director.
responsibility
noun
1 it was his responsibility to find witnesses: duty, task,function, job, role, place, charge, business, onus, burden,liability, accountability, answerability, province;
2 the organization denied responsibility for the bomb attack at the airport:blame,fault,guilt,culpability,blameworthiness, liability.
3 teenagers may not be showing enough sense of responsibility to be safely granted privileges: trustworthiness, rationality, sense, common sense, stability, maturity,reliability, dependability, competence.
4 we train those staff who show an aptitude for managerial responsibility:authority,control,management, influence; duty.power,leadership,
verb
1 he tried to persuade her to come with him: prevail on, talk someone into, coax, convince, make, get, press some one into, induce, win someone over, bring someone round, argue someone into, pressure someone into, pressurise someone into, coerce, influence, sway, prompt, inveigle,entice, tempt, lure, cajole, wheedle someone into, get round, blarney, prod someone into, reason someone into;
Law procure; informal sweet-talk, smooth-talk, soft-soap,twist someone's arm. ANTONYMS dissuade, discourage, deter.
2 shortage of money persuaded them to abandon the scheme:cause, lead, move, dispose, incline, motivate, induce.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
persuade, convince, induce
See convince.
plummet |ˈplʌmɪt|
verb (plummets, plummeting, plummeted) [ no obj. ]fall or drop straight down at high speed: a climber was killed when he plummeted 300 feet down an icy gully.
• decrease rapidly in value or amount: hardware sales plummeted.
noun
1 a steep and rapid fall or drop. the bird has a circular display flight followed by an earthward plummet.
2 a plumb or plumb line.
ORIGIN late Middle English (as a noun): from Old French plommet ‘small sounding lead’, diminutive of plomb ‘lead’. The current verb sense dates from the 1930s.
plummet
verb
1 the plane plummeted to the ground: plunge, fall headlong, hurtle, nosedive, dive, drop, crash, descend rapidly.2 share prices plummeted: fall steeply/sharply, plunge, tumble, drop/decrease rapidly, go down, sink, slump;
stable 1 |ˈsteɪb(ə)l|
adjective (stabler, stablest)
(of an object or structure) not likely to give way or overturn; firmly fixed: specially designed dinghies that are very stable.
• (of a patient or their medical condition) not deteriorating in health after an injury or operation: he is
now in a stable condition in hospital.
• sane and sensible; not easily upset or disturbed: the officer concerned is mentally and emotionally stable.
• not likely to change or fail; firmly established: a stable relationship | prices have remained relatively stable.
DERIVATIVES
stably adverb
DERIVATIVES
stableful noun (pl.stablefuls)
stable
adjective1 a very stable tent: firm, solid, steady, secure, fixed, strong, fast, stout, sturdy, safe, moored, anchored, stuck down, immovable, well built, well constructed, substantial. ANTONYMS unstable, rickety.
2 a stable person: well balanced, balanced, sound, mentally sound, of sound mind, sane, normal, right in the head, in possession of all one's faculties, able to think/reason clearly, lucid,
clear-headed,rational,coherent, steady, reasonable, sensible, sober, down-to-earth, matter-of-fact, with both one's feet on the ground;ANTONYMS unstable, unbalanced.
3 a stable relationship | prices have remained relatively stable:secure, solid, strong, steady, firm, sure, steadfast, level,unwavering,unvarying,unfaltering,unfluctuating,unswerving; established, long-lasting, long-lived, deep rooted, well founded, well grounded, abiding, durable, enduring, lasting,constant, permanent, reliable,dependable,true.
ANTONYMS unstable,rocky,changeable.
fresh |frɛʃ|
adjective
1 not previously known or used; new or different: the court had heard fresh evidence.
• recently created or experienced and not faded or impaired: the memory was still fresh in their minds.
• (of a person) attractively youthful and unspoilt. a fresh young girl.
2 (of food) recently made or obtained; not tinned, frozen, or otherwise preserved: fresh fruit.
3 [ predic. ] (of a person) full of energy and vigour: they are feeling fresh after a good night's sleep.
• (of a colour or a person's complexion) bright or healthy in appearance. a young constable with a fresh complexion.
4 (of water) not salty. all the fresh water in the world's lakes.
5 (of the wind) cool and fairly strong. a fresh northerly wind was speeding the ship southwards.
adverb [ usu. in combination ]
newly; recently: fresh-baked bread | fresh-cut grass.
DERIVATIVES
freshness noun
fresh
adjective
1 salads made with fresh, wholesome ingredients: newly harvested, garden-fresh, not stale, crisp, firm, raw,natural,unprocessed,uncured, without additives, without preservatives. ANTONYMS stale; processed.
2 she drew on a fresh sheet of paper: clean, blank, empty,bare,clear,plain,white;unused,new,pristine,
unmarked, unfilled, untouched. ANTONYMS used.
3 a fresh approach to studying: new, brand new, recent, latest, up to date, modern, modernistic, ultra-modern,newfangled; original, novel,different,innovative,unusual, uncommon, unwonted, out of the ordinary,unconventional,unorthodox,offbeat,radical,revolutionary; ANTONYMS old, well-worn.
4 the general knew fresh forces were coming: additional,further, extra, added, supplementary, supplemental,auxiliary; more, other, new.
5 a row of fresh recruits: young, youthful, juvenile,adolescent,boyish,girlish,new,newly arrived;
inexperienced, untrained, unqualified, untried, raw,callow, green, immature, artless, ingenuous, naive;
informal wet behind the ears. ANTONYMS experienced.
6 I must be fresh for work in the morning: refreshed, rested,restored, revived, like a new person; fresh as a daisy,energetic, vigorous, invigorated, full of vim and vigour,vital, lively, vibrant, spry, sprightly, bright, alert,bouncing, perky; informal full of beans, raring to go,bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,
chirpy, chipper.ANTONYMS tired.
7 she had the fresh complexion of a true Celt: healthy, healthy-looking, clear, bright,youthful,
youthful-looking, wholesome, blooming, glowing, unblemished;
fair, rosy, rosy-cheeked, pink, pinkish, reddish, ruddy,flushed, blushing. ANTONYMS unhealthy.
8 the morning was clear and fresh: cool, crisp, refreshing,invigorating, tonic; pure, clean, clear, unpolluted,uncontaminated, untainted.
9 a fresh wind had sprung up from the east: chilly, cool, cold,brisk, bracing, invigorating; bleak, wintry, snowy, frosty,icy, ice-cold, icy-cold, glacial, polar, arctic, raw, bitter,bitterly cold, biting; informal nippy; Brit. informal parky;
literary chill; rare gelid, brumal. ANTONYMS warm,sultry.
10 informal that young man has been getting a little too fresh:impudent,impertinent,insolent,
presumptuous,audacious, forward, cheeky, irreverent, discourteous,disrespectful, insubordinate, rude, crude, brazen, brazen-faced, brash, shameless, pert, defiant, bold, (as) bold as brass, outrageous, shocking, out of line; informal brass-necked, cocky, lippy, mouthy, flip;ANTONYMS polite.
favourable |ˈfeɪv(ə)rəb(ə)l| (USfavorable)
adjective
1 expressing approval: the exhibitions received favourable reviews.
• giving consent: their demands rarely received a favourable response.
2 to the advantage of someone or something: favourable conditions for vegetation growth | the settlement was favourable to the unions.• (of a wind) blowing in the direction of travel. by sailing
towards the land first you will find more favourable wind.
• suggesting a good outcome: a favourable prognosis.
DERIVATIVES
favourableness noun
ORIGIN Middle English: via Old French from Latin
favorabilis, from favor (see favour) .
favourable
adjective
1 a favourable assessment of his ability: approving,commendatory, commending, praising, complimentary,flattering, glowing, appreciative, enthusiastic; good,pleasing, agreeable, successful, positive; ANTONYMS unfavourable; critical.
2 the birds nest where conditions are favourable: advantageous, beneficial, of benefit, in one's favour, on one's side, helpful, good, right, conducive, convenient, suitable, fit, fitting, appropriate; propitious, auspicious,hopeful, promising, fair, encouraging. ANTONYMS disadvantageous.
3 he hoped for a favourable reply to his request: positive, affirmative, assenting, agreeing, concurring, approving,in the affirmative; encouraging, reassuring, supportive,in one's favour. ANTONYMS negative.
angry |ˈaŋgri|
adjective (angrier, angriest)
feeling or showing strong annoyance, displeasure, or hostility; full of anger: why are you angry with me? | I'm angry that she didn't call me.
• (of the sea or sky) stormy, turbulent, or threatening: the wild, angry sea.
DERIVATIVES
angrily adverb
angry
adjective
1 Vivienne got angry and started shouting | she shot him an angry look: irate, annoyed, cross, vexed, irritated, exasperated, indignant, aggrieved, irked,piqued, displeased, provoked, galled, resentful; furious, enraged, infuriated, in a temper, incensed, raging, incandescent,wrathful, fuming, ranting, raving, seething, frenzied, in a frenzy, beside oneself, outraged, hostile, antagonistic, black, dark, dirty, filthy;ANTONYMS calm; pleased.
2 an angry debate erupted: heated, hot, passionate, furious, fiery, stormy, tempestuous, lively; bad-tempered, ill-tempered,acrimonious,bitter. ANTONYMS good-humoured, peaceful.
volatile |ˈvɒlətʌɪl|
adjective
1 (of a substance) easily evaporated at normal temperatures. volatile solvents such as petroleum ether,
hexane, and benzene.
2 liable to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially
for the worse: the political situation was becoming more
volatile.
• (of a person) liable to display rapid changes of emotion. a passionate, volatile young man.
3 (of a computer's memory) retaining data only as long as there is a power supply connected.
noun (usu. volatiles)
a volatile substance.
DERIVATIVES
volatility |-ˈtɪlɪti| noun
ORIGIN Middle English (in the sense ‘creature that flies’,also, as a collective, ‘birds’): from Old French volatil or Latin volatilis, from volare ‘to fly’.
volatile
adjective
1 her sister was headstrong and volatile: unpredictable,changeable, variable, inconstant, inconsistent, uncertain,erratic,irregular,unstable,turbulent,unsteady,unsettled, unreliable, undependable, changing, ever changing, varying, shifting, fluctuating, fluid, mutable, protean, fitful, wavering, full of ups and downs;
mercurial, capricious, whimsical, fickle, flighty, giddy,impulsive, wayward, temperamental, highly strung,excitable,choleric,emotional,stormy,overemotional,tempestuous,fiery,volcanic;
moody,informal blowing hot and cold; technical labile;ANTONYMS stable, constant.
2 the atmosphere in the capital seems far too volatile for any talk of elections:
uncomfortable,tense,strained,charged,fraught,explosive,uneasy,eruptive,inflammatory, turbulent, in turmoil, full of upheavals;ANTONYMS stable, calm.
3 a plume of pollution caused by a volatile organic compound: evaporate, vaporous, explosive, eruptive,inflammable; unstable;
foul |faʊl|
adjective1 offensive to the senses, especially through having a disgusting smell or taste or being dirty: a foul odour | his foul breath.
2 wicked or immoral: murder most foul.
verb [ with obj. ]
1 make foul or dirty; pollute: factories which fouled the atmosphere.
• (of an animal) make (something) dirty with excrement: make sure that your pet never fouls paths.
• (foul oneself) (of a person) defecate involuntarily.
2 (in sport) commit a foul against (an opponent). United claim their keeper was fouled.3 (of a ship) collide with or interfere with the passage of (another). the ships became overcrowded and fouled each
other.
• cause (a cable, anchor, or other object) to become entangled or jammed: watch out for driftwood which might foul up the engine.
DERIVATIVES
foully adverb,
foulness noun
ORIGIN Old English fūl, of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse fúll ‘foul’, Dutch vuil ‘dirty’, and Germanfaul ‘rotten, lazy’, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin pus,Greek puos ‘pus’, and Latin putere ‘to stink’.
spiritless |ˈspɪrɪtlɪs|
adjective
lacking courage, vigour, or vivacity: Ruth and I played a spiritless game of Scrabble.
DERIVATIVES
spiritlessly adverb,
spiritlessness noun
spiritless
adjective
Lilian was a pallid, spiritless woman | a spiritless performance: apathetic, passive, unenthusiastic, lifeless,listless, lacking in vitality, weak, feeble, spineless,droopy, limp, languid, bloodless, insipid, characterless,submissive, meek, irresolute, indecisive; lacklustre, flat,colourless, passionless, uninspiring, uninspired, wooden,dry, desiccated, anaemic, vapid, dull,boring; ANTONYMS spirited, lively.
heartless |ˈhɑːtlɪs|
adjective
displaying a complete lack of feeling or consideration:heartless thieves stole the pushchair of a two-year-old boy.
DERIVATIVES
heartlessly adverb,
heartlessness noun
heartless
adjective
heartless thieves stole the pushchair of a two-year-old boy:unfeeling, unsympathetic, unkind, uncaring, unloving,unmoved, unconcerned, insensitive, inconsiderate, cold-blooded, with
a heart of stone, lacking compassion, mean-spirited,without sentiment, hard as nails; cold, hard, harsh, stern,callous,cruel,brutal,merciless,pitiless,ruthless,inhuman. ANTONYMS compassionate.
mindless |ˈmʌɪndlɪs|
adjective
1 acting or done without justification and with no concern for the consequences: a generation of mindless vandals | mindless violence.
• (of an activity) so simple or repetitive as to be performed automatically. the monotony of housework turns it into a mindless task.
2 (mindless of) not thinking of or concerned about: mindless of the fact she was in her nightie, she rushed to the door.
DERIVATIVES
mindlessly adverb,
mindlessness nounmindless
adjective
1 some mindless idiot nearly drove into me: stupid, idiotic, brainless, imbecilic, imbecile, asinine, witless, foolish, empty-headed, vacuous, unintelligent, half-witted, dull, slow-witted,obtuse,
weak-minded,feather-brained,doltish, brain-dead, cretinous, thick,thickheaded,birdbrained,
pea-brained,dopey, dim, dim-witted, dippy, pie-faced, fat-headed,ANTONYMS intelligent.
2 mindless acts of vandalism: unthinking, thoughtless,senseless, gratuitous, careless, wanton, indiscriminate,unreasoning, uncalled for, brutish, barbarous, barbaric.ANTONYMS thoughtful, considered, premeditated.
3 a mindless, repetitive task: mechanical, automatic,routine, robotic; tedious, boring, monotonous, brainless,mind-numbing. ANTONYMS interesting.
PHRASES
mindless of she was mindless of the consequences of her actions: indifferent to, heedless of, unaware of, unmindful of, careless of, insensible to, blind to.
ebullient |ɪˈbʌljənt, -ˈbʊl-|
adjective
1 cheerful and full of energy: she sounded ebullient and happy.
DERIVATIVES
ebulliently adverb,
ebulliency noun
ORIGIN late 16th cent. (in the sense ‘boiling’): from Latin ebullient- ‘boiling up’, from the verb ebullire, from e-(variant of ex-)‘out’ + bullire ‘to boil’.
ebullient
adjective
the superb weather put him in an ebullient mood: exuberant,buoyant, cheerful, joyful, cheery, merry, sunny, breezy,jaunty, light-hearted, in high spirits, high-spirited,exhilarated, elated,
euphoric,sparkling, effervescent,jubilant,vivacious,animated,enthusiastic,irrepressible; informal bubbly, bouncy, peppy, zingy,upbeat, chipper, chirpy, smiley, sparky, full of beans; ANTONYMS depressed.
fall
verb
1 bombers screamed above and bombs began to fall: drop,drop down, plummet, descend, come down, go down,plunge, sink, dive, nosedive, tumble, pitch; cascade;ANTONYMS rise.
2 he lost his balance and fell: topple over, tumble over, keel over, fall down, fall over, go head over heels,fall headlong, go headlong, collapse, fall in a heap,take a spill, pitch forward; trip, trip over, stumble, stagger, slip, slide; ANTONYMS get up.
3 inflation is expected to fall: decrease, decline, diminish, fall off, drop off, go down, grow less, lessen, dwindle;
plummet, plunge, slump, sink; depreciate, decrease in value, lose value, decline in price, cheapen, devalue;crash.ANTONYMS rise, increase.
4 the Mogul empire fell several centuries later: decline,deteriorate, degenerate, go downhill, go to rack and ruin;die, decay, atrophy, wither, fade, fail; informal go to the dogs, go to pot, hit the skids, go down the toilet.ANTONYMS flourish.
5 a monument to those who fell in the Civil War: die, be killed, be slain, be a casualty, be a fatality, be lost, lose one's life, perish, drop dead, meet one's end, meet one's death; informal bite the dust, croak, buy it;
6 the town fell to the barbarians: surrender, yield, submit,give in, give up, give way, capitulate, succumb; be overthrown by, be taken by, be defeated by, be conquered by, be overcome by, be overwhelmed by, lose one's position to, pass into the hands of, fall victim to.ANTONYMS resist.
7 Easter falls on 23rd April: occur, take place, happen, come about, come to pass.
8 he waited for night to fall: come, arrive, appear, occur, arise, materialize.
9 my grandmother fell ill: become, come/get to be, grow,get, turn.
10 more of the domestic tasks may fall to him: be the responsibility of, be the duty of, be borne by, be one's job, be one's task; come someone's way.
equate |ɪˈkweɪt|
verb [ with obj. ] (often equate something to/with) consider (one thing) to be the same as or equivalent to another: customers equate their name with quality.
• [ no obj. ] (equate to/with) (of one thing) be the same as or equivalent to (another): that sum equates to half a million pounds today.
• cause (two or more things) to be the same in quantity or value: the level of prices will move to equate supply and demand.
DERIVATIVES
equatable adjective
equate
verb
1 his single-mindedness led him to equate criticism with treachery: regard as the same as, regard as identical to;
identify, liken to, compare; bracket, class, associate, connect, pair, link, relate, ally, think of together, set side by side.
2 the rent equates to £24 per square foot: correspond, be equivalent, amount; equal, be the same as.
3 the price moved to equate supply and demand: equalize, balance, even out/up/off, level up/off, square, tally, match; make equal, make even, make level, make equivalent, make identical, make the same, make uniform.
sore |sɔː|
adjective1 (of a part of one's body) painful or aching: she had a sore throat.
• suffering pain from a part of one's body: he was sore from the long ride.
noun
a raw or painful place on the body: all of us had sores and infections on our hands.
• a cause or source of distress or annoyance: there's no point raking over the past and opening old sores.
PHRASES
sore point an issue about which someone feels distressed
or annoyed and which it is therefore advisable to avoid
raising with them.stand (or stick) out like a sore thumb be very obviously
different from the surrounding people or things.
DERIVATIVES
soreness noun
sore
adjective
1 a sore leg: painful, in pain, hurting, hurt, aching, throbbing, smarting, stinging, burning, irritating,
irritated, agonizing, excruciating; inflamed, angry, red, reddened, sensitive, tender, delicate, chafed, . ANTONYMS healthy.
3 we are in sore need of you: dire, urgent, pressing,desperate, critical, crucial, acute, grave, serious, intense,crying, burning, compelling, drastic, extreme, life-and-death, great, very great, terrible; . ANTONYMS some, slight.
noun
a sore on his leg: inflammation, swelling, lesion; wound,scrape, abrasion, chafe, cut, laceration, graze, contusion,bruise; running sore, ulcer, ulceration, boil, abscess,carbuncle, canker.
plummet |ˈplʌmɪt|
verb (plummets, plummeting, plummeted) [ no obj. ]
fall or drop straight down at high speed: a climber was killed when he plummeted 300 feet down an icy gully.
• decrease rapidly in value or amount: hardware sales plummeted.
noun
1 a steep and rapid fall or drop. the bird has a circular display flight followed by an earthward plummet.
2 a plumb or plumb line.
plummet
verb1 the plane plummeted to the ground: plunge, fall headlong,hurtle, nosedive, dive, drop, crash, descend rapidly.
2 share prices plummeted: fall steeply/sharply, plunge,tumble, drop/decrease rapidly, go down, sink, slump;
play |pleɪ|
verb
1 [ no obj. ] engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose: the children were playing by a pool | her friends were playing with their dolls.
• [ with obj. ] engage in (a game or activity) for enjoyment: I want to play Snakes and Ladders.
• amuse oneself by engaging in imaginative pretence: the boys were playing at soldiers.
• (play at) engage in without proper seriousness or understanding: it would be wrong to assume that he is simply playing at right-wing politics.
2 [ with obj. ] take part in (a sport): I play squash and badminton.
• participate in (a sporting match or contest): the squad will have played 14 games in six weeks.
• compete against (another player or team) in a sporting
match: the team will play France on Wednesday.
3 [ no obj. ] [ usu. with negative ] be cooperative: he needs financial backing, but the building societies won't play.
set 1 |sɛt|
verb (sets, setting; past and past participleset)
1 [ with obj. and usu. with adverbial ] put, lay, or stand (something) in a specified place or position: Delaney set the mug of tea down | Catherine set a chair by the bed.
2 [ with obj. and usu. with adverbial ] put or bring into a specified state: the Home Secretary set in motion a review of the law | [ with obj. and complement ] : the hostages were set free.
3 [ with obj. ] adjust (a clock or watch), typically to show the right time. set your watch immediately to local time at your destination. figurative : to revert to an old style would be to try to set back the clock and deny the progress which had been made.
4 [ no obj. ] harden into a solid or semi-solid state: cook for a further thirty-five minutes until the filling has set.
deficit
noun
there was a large, continuing deficit in the federal budget: shortfall, deficiency, shortage, slippage;
indebtedness, debt, arrears; minus amount, negative amount, loss. ANTONYMS surplus, profit.
obligation |ɒblɪˈgeɪʃ(ə)n|
noun
an act or course of action to which a person is morally or
legally bound; a duty or commitment: [ with infinitive ] :
I have an obligation to look after her.
• [ mass noun ] the condition of being morally or legally
bound to do something: they are under no obligation to
stick to the scheme.
DERIVATIVES
obligational adjective
ORIGIN Middle English (in the sense ‘formal promise’):via Old French from Latin obligatio(n-), from the verb obligare (see oblige) .
obligation
noun
1 I have an obligation to look after her | he seemed able to fulfil his professional obligations:
duty,commitment,responsibility, moral imperative; function, task, job,chore,assignment,commission,
business,burden,charge, onus, liability, accountability, requirement, debt,engagement; dated office;
2 she took him in solely out of a sense of obligation: duty,compulsion, indebtedness, duress, necessity, pressure,constraint.
3 the company's export obligations: contract, agreement,deed, covenant, bond, treaty, deal, pact, compact,understanding, transaction.
behind |bɪˈhʌɪnd|
preposition
1 at or to the far side of (something), typically so as to be hidden by it: the recording machinery was kept behind screens | the sun came out from behind a cloud.
• underlying (something) but not apparent to the observer: the agony behind his decision to retire.
2 following or further back than (another member of a moving group): we were stuck behind a slow-moving tractor.• at the back of (someone), after they have passed through a door: she ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
3 in support of or giving guidance to (someone else):
whatever you decide to do, I'll be behind you | the power behind the throne.
• controlling or responsible for (an event or plan): the chances were that he was behind the death of the girl | the meticulous organization behind the coup.
adverb
1 at or to the far side of something: Campbell grabbed him from behind.
2 in a particular place after leaving or after others have moved on: don't leave me behind.
3 further back than other members of a moving group:Ben led the way, with Joe a short distance behind.
noun
1 informal a person's buttocks: she slid inelegantly down a few steps on her behind.
preposition
1 he slept in a hut behind their house: at the back of, at the rear of, beyond, on the other side of, on the far side of, on the further side of; ANTONYMS in front of.
2. you are way behind the rest of the class: less advanced than, slower than, weaker than, inferior to.
3 work on the car is months behind schedule: later than, late in relation to, after.
4 he was believed to have been behind a number of bombings: responsible for, at the bottom of, at the back of, the cause of, the source of, the organizer of; to blame for, culpable of, guilty of; causing, instigating, initiating, urging.
5 the All Blacks have the whole nation behind them:supporting, backing, for, on the side of, in agreement with; financing.
PHRASES
put something behind one the team have to put this morning's result behind them: consign something to the past, put something down to experience, forget about something, pay no heed to something, ignore, regard as water under the bridge.
adverb
1 each plane took off with a glider following on behind: after,afterwards, at the back, in the rear, in the wake, at the end, at six o'clock. ANTONYMS ahead, in front.
2 ‘I'm off to dance!’ he called behind: over one's shoulder, to the rear, to the back, towards the rear, towards the back, backwards. ANTONYMS ahead.
3 he stayed behind to sign autographs: afterwards, remaining after departure.
4 we're behind so don't stop: running late, late, behind schedule, behindhand, delayed, not on time, behind time. ANTONYMS ahead.
5 he was behind with his subscription payments: in arrears,overdue, in debt, ANTONYMS ahead.
noun
difficulty |ˈdɪfɪk(ə)lti|
noun (pl.difficulties) [ mass noun ]
the state or condition of being difficult: Guy had no difficulty in making friends | I managed with difficulty to struggle upright.
• [ count noun ] a thing that is hard to accomplish, deal with, or understand: there is a practical difficulty | a club with financial difficulties.
• (difficulties) a situation that is difficult or dangerous: they went for a swim but got into difficulties.
ORIGIN late Middle English (in the senses ‘requiring effort or skill’ and ‘something difficult’): from Latin
difficultas, from dis- (expressing reversal) + facultas‘ability, opportunity’.
difficulty
noun
1 her note had been penned with obvious difficulty: strain,struggling,awkwardness,laboriousness,
trouble,strenuousness,toil,labour,arduousness;pains,problems, trials and tribulations; informal hassle, stress;ANTONYMS ease.
2 the questions are arranged in order of difficulty: complexity,awkwardness;intricacy,perplexity,
trickiness,hardness;obscurity, abstruseness. ANTONYMS simplicity.
3 the cost of the journey was not an insurmountable difficulty:problem, complication, issue, disadvantage, snag, hitch,drawback, pitfall, handicap, impediment, hindrance,obstacle, hurdle, stumbling block, obstruction, barrier;
4 they felt unable to ask for help when they were in difficulty:trouble, distress, crisis, hardship; adversity, extremity,need; hard times, dire straits; predicament, quandary,dilemma, plight; informal hot water, deep water, a fix, a jam, a spot, a scrape, a stew, a hole, a pickle.
siren |ˈsʌɪr(ə)n|
noun
1 a device that makes a loud prolonged signal or
warning sound: ambulance sirens.
2 Greek Mythology each of a number of women or
winged creatures whose singing lured unwary sailors on
to rocks.
siren
noun
1 the wail of an air-raid siren: alarm, alarm bell, warning bell, danger signal; whistle, horn; Brit. hooter;
capitalism |ˈkapɪt(ə)lɪz(ə)m|
noun [ mass noun ]
an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
noun
private enterprise, free enterprise, private ownership,privatised industries, the free market, individualism;ANTONYMS communism.
destruct |dɪˈstrʌkt|
verb [ with obj. ]cause deliberate, terminal damage to. the boys' war to destruct things.
noun [ in sing. ] [ usu. as modifier ]
the deliberate causing of terminal damage: press the destruct button.
DERIVATIVES
destructor noun
ORIGIN 1950s (originally US): back-formation from
destruction.
arson |ˈɑːs(ə)n|
noun [ mass noun ]
the criminal act of deliberately setting fire to property:police are treating the fire as arson | [ as modifier ] : an arson attack.
ORIGIN late 17th cent.: an Anglo-Norman French legal
term, from medieval Latin arsio(n-), from Latin ardere
‘to burn’.arsonist |ˈɑːs(ə)nɪst, ˈɑːsənɪst|
noun
a person who commits arson: police believe arsonists were
responsible for both fires.
archery |ˈɑːtʃəri|
noun [ mass noun ]
shooting with a bow and arrows, especially at a target as a sport.
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French archerie,from archier (see archer) .
shoot |ʃuːt|
verb (past and past participleshot |ʃɒt| )
1 [ with obj. ] kill or wound (a person or animal) with a bullet or arrow: he was shot in the leg during an armed robbery | [ with obj. and complement ] : troops shot dead 29 people.• [ no obj. ] fire a bullet from a gun or discharge an arrow from a bow: he shot at me twice | the troops were ordered to
shoot to kill | [ with obj. ] : they shot a volley of arrows into the village.
• [ no obj., with adverbial ] use a firearm with a specified degree of skill: we shot well against Spain.
2 move or cause to move suddenly and rapidly in a particular direction: [ no obj., with adverbial of
direction ] : the car shot forward | Ward's hand shot out, grabbing his arm | [ with obj. and adverbial of direction ] :
he would have fallen if Marc hadn't shot out a hand to stop him.
irresistible
adjective
1 her irresistible smile: tempting, enticing, alluring,inviting,seductive;
attractive,desirable,etching,glamorous, appealing; captivating, ravishing, beguiling,
enchanting, fascinating, tantalizing;
2 it was an irresistible impulse—I couldn't stop myself:uncontrollable,compelling,overwhelming,
compulsive,overpowering,besetting,irrepressible,ungovernable; unavoidable, inescapable, unpreventable,inexorable,driving,forceful,potent,oppressive,imperative, urgent; obsessive.
WORD TOOLKIT
irresistible
See enchanting.
susceptibility |səˌsɛptɪˈbɪlɪti|noun (pl.susceptibilities)
1 [ mass noun ] the state or fact of being likely or liable to be influenced or harmed by a particular thing: lack of exercise increases susceptibility to disease.
2(susceptibilities)a person's feelings,typically considered as being easily hurt: I was so careful not to
offend their susceptibilities.
3 Physics the ratio of magnetization produced in a material to the magnetizing force.
susceptibility
noun
1 his susceptibility to flattery: vulnerability, sensitivity,openness,defencelessness,receptiveness,
responsiveness. ANTONYMS immunity, resistance.ANTONYMS immunity, resistance.
predisposition,likelihood.
liability |lʌɪəˈbɪlɪti|
noun (pl.liabilities)
1 [ mass noun ] the state of being legally responsible for something: once you contact the card protection scheme your liability for any loss ends.
• [ count noun ] (usu. liabilities) a thing for which someone is responsible, especially an amount of money owed: valuing the company's liabilities and assets.
2 [ usu. in sing. ] a person or thing whose presence or behaviour is likely to put one at a disadvantage: she said the party had become a liability to green politics.
liability
noun
1 journalists cannot avoid liability for defamation merely by avoiding the responsibility, naming legal
of names: accountability, responsibility ;incrimination, blame, blameworthiness, culpability, guilt,
onus, fault; ANTONYMS immunity.
2 they have some huge assets and some equally big liabilities:financial obligation, debt, indebtedness,
debit;
(liabilities) debts, arrears, dues. ANTONYMS asset.
3 she had come to be seen as an electoral liability: hindrance,encumbrance,burden,handicap,nuisance,
inconvenience; obstacle, impediment, drawback, drag,disadvantage, weakness, shortcoming, problem, weak spot/point; millstone round one's neck, stumbling block,
ANTONYMS asset, advantage.
4 their liability to the disease: susceptibility, vulnerability,proneness, tendency, predisposition, propensity; risk,chance, likelihood, threat. ANTONYMS immunity.
accountability |əˌkaʊntəˈbɪlɪti|
noun [ mass noun ]the fact or condition of being accountable; responsibility:lack of accountability has corroded public respect for business and political leaders.
accountability
noun
1 there must be clear accountability for the expenditure of public money:responsibility,liability,
2 ministers' accountability to parliament: answerability,responsibility, reporting, obedience.
responsibility |rɪˌspɒnsɪˈbɪlɪti|
noun (pl.responsibilities) [ mass noun ]
1 the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone: women
bear children and take responsibility for childcare.
2 the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something: the group has claimed responsibility for a string of murders.• [ in sing. ] (responsibility to/towards) a moral
obligation to behave correctly towards or in respect of:individuals have a responsibility to control their behaviour.
3 the opportunity or ability to act independently and take decisions without authorization:
we expect individuals to take on more responsibility.
• [ count noun ] (often responsibilities) a thing which one is required to do as part of a job, role, or legal obligation: he will take over the responsibilities of Overseas Director.
responsibility
noun
1 it was his responsibility to find witnesses: duty, task,function, job, role, place, charge, business, onus, burden,liability, accountability, answerability, province;
2 the organization denied responsibility for the bomb attack at the airport:blame,fault,guilt,culpability,blameworthiness, liability.
3 teenagers may not be showing enough sense of responsibility to be safely granted privileges: trustworthiness, rationality, sense, common sense, stability, maturity,reliability, dependability, competence.
4 we train those staff who show an aptitude for managerial responsibility:authority,control,management, influence; duty.power,leadership,
Comments
Post a Comment